Theater

Travels with Juan Peron: "Evita" star travels with wife, dogs, baby

Sean MacLaughlin plays Juan Perón in the national tour of "Evita" — for which he's been traveling with his family, including a baby, in a Toyota Highlander. (Richard Termine, Provided by Providence Performing Arts Center)

The life of a touring star is something of a mystery.

As it should be, perhaps. After all, when Sean MacLaughlin strides onto the Buell's stage as Juan Perón in "Evita" on Jan. 15, it will be his performance as the one-time (OK, two-time) president of Argentina that must matter.

It will be Caroline Bowman's turn as his second wife, Eva Duarte, proud icon of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's famed musical, that must beguile. And Josh Young's turn as Che (no, not that one, exactly) which must compel.

In 2012, Broadway hosted a fresh revival of the Tony-winning musical directed by British maverick Michael Grandage. In September, that production's first national tour launched in Rhode Island.

And actor MacLaughlin embarked on a road trip that's taken him to Chicago, St. Louis, Costa Mesa, Seattle and Portland, Ore., to name a few of the cities thus far.

He hasn't been alone on this vagabond tour — far from it. Joining him are wife Elaine Matthews, also an actor; zaftig beagle-pug mix Albert; Cavalier King Charles spaniel Lady; and a wee infant by the name of Quinn.

Small wonder they're traveling in a Toyota Highlander.

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"It's been perfect so far," Mac-Laughlin said on the phone from Costa Mesa, Calif., a few days before a holiday break.

The couple aren't strangers to hitting the road. "We both toured together on 'Phantom of the Opera.' So we're used to touring," he said. "So after our child was born, I got this offer to play Perón and we both decided, 'Let's do this. It'll be fun.' And the baby's loving it."

The 8-month-old is sure to have a photo album of almost-"selfies" when he grows old enough to appreciate them.

"We're using the baby as the Travelocity gnome, propping him up in front of landmarks," said MacLaughlin. "You were here!"

Since that December phone call, the quintet has added another 1,400 miles, give or take, to the sojourn.

The dogs are good. The pediatricians and dog walkers are lined up. And the road food — "pizza in Chicago, Thai food in Seattle, Blue Bell ice cream wherever it's sold" — hasn't yet topped St. Louis' Gooey Butter Cake joint, but they'll keep trying. And Quinn has learned a few new tricks, said the proud father.

"He's been babbling a lot. And as of the end of Costa Mesa when we last spoke, he is learning to crawl."

It's been easy to fantasize about the command performances that Quinn, Albert and Lady have been privy to. Two musical-theater aces traveling the country, belting out pitch-perfect tunes in an SUV, right?

"We don't do the 'Bottles of Beer on the Wall' kind of thing, but we do try to expand with new musicals and things like that. We'll pull up some new ones on iTunes. My wife is learning even more about the musical-theater library from the past, so we'll go through that."

He's also been creating playlists from the grunge rock period. That's what traveling in the Pacific Northwest of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden will do to a guy.

As for the revived "Evita," the mystery might be that there's less of mystery in it. "It's more real," MacLaughlin said. "That's what appeals to me. No offense to Hal Prince's version, it's a masterpiece in itself. That's why people have done it for so long. But I'm a huge fan of Michael Grandage for putting reality in a musical."